Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Supported by

Magazines Push Boundaries on Cover Ads

By Stephanie Clifford June 12, 2009 1:35 pmJune 12, 2009 1:35 pm

Ads have been creeping onto magazine covers lately.

Sometimes it’s blatant, as at Scholastic Parent & Child, which has been running actual ads on covers. Sometimes it’s subtle, as at Entertainment Weekly, which recently made its cover into a pocket, where it inserted a pull-out ad.

In its July issue, Popular Science is taking a different approach. It has created a cover sponsored by General Electric. But the G.E. affiliation becomes obvious only when the cover is held up to a Web camera. Although other magazine publishers have used cover ads to generate cash, Popular Science did not charge G.E. for the cover.

Ads on covers violate rules set by the American Society of Magazine Editors, which requires a clear separation between editorial space and advertising space. Though the repercussions for putting ads on the cover are not severe — the society sends a letter of reprimand, and occasionally bars the publication from competing in the National Magazine Awards — magazines have gone to great lengths to avoid clear-cut cover advertisements.
Read the full story here.